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One of our new year’s resolutions was to de-hoard our wardrobe; my boyfriend’s wardrobe actually, as he has been “collecting” clothes for the last 12 years. Anything from trance music style skinny shirts worn while teenage clubbing, fake brand-name tops and shorts, to some nice ski-jumpers given to him by his dad which are back in style now and kept for now 🙂 etc… Most of the not-needed clothes were donated and some shrunken old school t-shirts were moved into my wardrobe as home-wear; they are actually quite comfortable and cozy. From t-shirts that had persistent stains and were not suitable for donation I decided to create yarn that I so often see in Pinterest. It was so super easy that I wish I had kept some of the donated t-shirts to do some more.

My first project was also yarn testing, toy balls for my cats. I added their favorite herb, Valeriana root and a bell to make it more fun. Finally I had the chance to get rid of the old balls which really were looking like they had been collected from the garbage can. The change was quite easy for my cats due to the smell which is very seductive for them.

So here is what you need:

T-shirt yarn (1 t-shirt for small ball and 1 ½ for a large one). I liked the instructions at “Polka Dot Pineapple” for the t-shirt yarn tutorial (actually I only followed the photos to make it, it’s that easy!)

Crochet hook 7mm

Valeriana root or Catnip leaves depending on what attracts your cat. Mine are totally indifferent to catnip plant and as a result I ended up using the leaves for tea, but they get seduced by valerian root. I’m not sure but I think you can try essential oil instead.

Very thin material (muslin is quite good) and threaded needle to create a herb sachet

Polyfill

Scissors

Herb sachet

Make a small sachet out of the thin material by stitching a circle with long simple straight stich, place the herb into the centre and pull the thread. Make few rounds around the stitches with the thread and secure with french knot.

Small ball

Row 1: 6 sc into an adjustable ring* leaving a 10cm (4in) tail

From now on WORK INTO BACK LOOPS ONLY

Row 2: 2sc in each st around (total 12scs)

Row 3: (2sc into next st, 1sc in next st) times 6 (total 18scs)

Row 4: (1sc into next two sts, 2sc into next st) times 6 (total 24scs); using the tail left attached the bell into the inside of of the ball (picture A below)

Row 5-7: 1sc in each st around (total 24scs)

Row 8: (sc2tog in next st, 1sc in next two sts) times 6 (total 18scs); place small amount of polyfill and then the sachet with the herb and stuff the rest of the ball with polyfill (picture B below)

Row 9: (1sc in the next st, sc2tog in next st) times 6 (total 12scs); add more polyfill if necessary